


What Remains

by rilina



Category: Naruto
Genre: Community: 31_days, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-03
Updated: 2006-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rilina/pseuds/rilina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Temari watches Gaara in the aftermath of the the first post-timeskip arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Remains

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for volume 31 of the manga. For 31_days' July 3rd theme: _This is a mystery not to be solved._

On the way home, Temari observes Gaara with a mixture of anxiety and relief. More than once she catches him looking at his hands wonderingly, as if he still doesn’t understand how he’s alive and free of Shukaku. She’s soon grateful for Naruto’s company; he’s so noisy, so willing to become the center of attention, that Gaara ends up having more space to find his composure again than he otherwise would.

Without his gourd, he seems small and oddly vulnerable. It’s only been in the last three years that Temari’s really thought of Gaara as her baby brother; now she finds herself wanting to pat him on the head, which is a novel feeling indeed. She refrains from acting on the impulse; even the new Gaara would probably object to such a show of affection. He might not kill her, but he’d probably shoot her the blank look that has been known to make veteran jounins back away very, very slowly.

Of course, there’s the rub: could he kill her as he is now? No one knows how strong Gaara is without the one-tail inside him; even his newfound admirers (those bitches) are wondering how much of his power he’s just lost. Yes, he’s still the Kazekage, but that won’t last long if he displays any weaknesses before the village council. Kankurou’s told Temari all about the conversation she missed when she was out on border patrol. Temari thinks it’s just as well that she wasn’t there; she would have been swinging her fan before anyone had time to restrain her.

When night falls, they make camp at the edge of the desert, still a day’s travel from Suna; Gaara and the Konoha ninja are still recovering their strength and unable to move at their usual speed. After midnight, Kankurou wakes Temari for the second watch; she settles down in the shadows with her fan, though she doesn’t anticipate any attacks. The Akatsuki have already gotten what they wanted; they probably won’t trouble themselves any more over its former vessel.

She’s still watching when Gaara sits up in his bedroll with the air of one who hasn’t been sleeping. He extricates himself from his blankets, picks a path through his many protectors, and heads toward the perimeter of the camp. When he reaches it, he avoids Temari’s carefully placed wires and traps with ease—he knows too many of her tricks, dammit—and walks until he reaches the desert. Concern for his safety—and simple curiosity—compel her to follow.

He’s staring at his hands again when she comes up behind him. She remembers the expression she spied on his face earlier in the day and wonders what he’s thinking now. Her approach hasn’t been silent—she learned a long time ago that it was better not to surprise Gaara, and old habits die hard—but he doesn’t turn or speak or otherwise acknowledge her presence.

“Gaara, are--?”

He cuts off her question with a shake of his head and stretches out one hand toward Suna.

For a long while, nothing seems happens. Then she notices the sand stirring beneath Gaara’s hand, though there isn’t a breath of wind. The sand swirls faster and faster, until it’s spinning under his palm like a miniature storm. After a minute, he lowers his arm and the sand falls back to the ground, looking as if it had never been disturbed.

He crosses his arms over his chest in the way that’s become so familiar and says, “You don’t need to worry about me, Temari.”

She feels her face break into a foolish grin, the kind of grin that was supposed to be trained out of her years ago. Of course he has his own power, just as she and Kankurou have theirs; he couldn’t have carried the demon for so long if that hadn’t been the case. How stupid she was to have ever thought otherwise. Well, at least she’s not the only one in the family jumping to idiotic conclusions.

“I will, you know. Not because you’re weak, but because you’re my brother. Baka.”

She doesn’t step forward to see his face, but she thinks he might be smiling too.


End file.
